Chapter 16

B-"Where do you think we are?" asked Betsy. "Hmm... I'm not sure," said Sarah while moving over towards the windows. She moved back the curtain and saw a rather familiar sight. It was the rose garden at the House on the Hill. “Oh my heavens! We're at Simon's house!" exclaimed Sarah. "And he just tried to kill us!" "What?! We need to get out of here!" shouted Betsy. "Well, maybe we should try to keep out voices down to not alert anyone of our presence. We need sneak out of one of these windows and try to act as nonchalant as possible while we run away as fast as we can," suggested Sarah. "I think that is a fine idea!" exclaimed Betsy, "Now, since the windows don't open we might have to throw a chair through one of them. Who wants to do the honors?"
S-Sarah picked up an old chair from the corner and heaved it out the window. There was a rather large crashing noise. The girls hoped no one would notice. The chipped off the more jagged pieces with a vase from a near by table. First Betsy jumped through and landed gracefully on the ground amidst some blooming lilies, Sarah then gently lifted Poppy through and handed her to Betsy. A sudden hollering pierced the tense silence. Sarah couldn't quite make out what all the commotion was about but she wasn't going to stay to find out. She had one leg out the window when the door burst open. There was Simon, yelling something about a terrible fire. His eyes grew very large when they saw Sarah, dress hitched to her thighs, clambering out of the widow. Sarah swung her other leg over, saluted Simon facetiously and hopped out. The girls raced across the park and into the nearby forest. They didn't stop to listen to the voices calling after them.
B-They ran towards the tree's and back to the town. They soon reached the main road and slowed to a walk, so as to not draw attention to themselves. But they were quite a sight and attracted many people gazes even without running. Betsy was covered in dirt from fainting, they both smelled like smoke, their dresses were ruined, and they were all panting rather hard. They decided that the best plan of action was to go back to the inn and change and wash up, they used the back roads just in case Simon came looking for them (he surely didn't want them spreading the news that he had just tried to kill them) They got back to the inn and lo and behold, there was someone waiting outside for them. But it wasn't Simon...
S-It was Sultry Scot! He was sitting at one of the tables outside the pub looking very worried indeed. When he saw Betsy he stood up very abruptly knocking over his mug of er... water. Betsy rushed inside and upstairs as quickly as she could in order to avoid anymore awkward situations. The Scot's shoulders drooped a bit, he heaved a manly sigh and sat back down staring at the mess he had created. Sarah couldn't help but give the poor chap a sympathetic look before collecting Poppy and ascending the stairs to the room. "You don't have to be so rude," Sarah reprimanded Betsy. "If I remember correctly you were the one that bonked his schnoz earlier this afternoon," Betsy countered. "Touche. I still have no idea what is even going on in this town though," Sarah remarked. "That makes the two of us. Maybe it will be more clear in the morning," yawned Betsy. The girls made sure that all the windows and doors were securely locked. After all you can never be too careful with ones safety. Especially in a village where a crazed madman is running loose setting fire to what ever strikes his fancy.



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Chapter 15

B-The girls waited a minute but there was no reply from Simon. "Simon," shrieked Betsy, "this is not a laughing matter! Because in case you didn't know I am very afraid of the dark!" She gave a small scream and started to cry. But then she realized that that was not helping at all, she had one last hick and then backed up against the wall trying to not completely break down. Good thing Sarah doesn't freak out every time that someone locks her in a creepy cellar. "Simon?" she tried once more, just in case he hadn't heard the other time or something... Nope, nothing. "Alright, let's think about his logically, we know that someone was here recently so maybe there is a light or something." "Or a murderer! Just waiting for the perfect moment to strike!" shrieked Betsy, and she backed closer into the wall. Sarah searched around and eventually found something that felt like a desk. She opened a drawer and felt around, hoping that nothing deadly was hidden in it's depths. Then, as luck would have it she found a candle! And matches! She struck a match and held it to the wick of the candle...
S-A flame burst into life. The candle was a welcome juxtaposition against the oppressive darkness of the cellar. The girls inspected all the walls, which were made of roughly hewn stone. "There's no other way out," Sarah moaned. "SIMON," Betsy declared shrilly, "I know you can hear me and I think this is a rather foul joke. My high opinion of you is rapidly decreasing. I demand you let us out at once!" Silence. Footsteps. More silence. A loud crash. Broken Glass. Flames. Large hot flames. Large hot flames that eat people if they don't get out of the cellar they are trapped in. Large hot flames that eat people and leave no trace, not even ashes, when they are finished with you. "We need to get out of here, right now."
B-Betsy was screaming her guts out now! There was not way that she was going to be the one so save them. It was all up to Sarah... "Think Sarah think!" Sarah muttered to herself. But the smoke was beginning to cloud her senses. She couldn’t see, her lungs were starting to burn. And right on queue Betsy slumped to the flood in a dead faint. "Well, this is just great. Now I have a 130 pound girl to carry out of here!" But then, out of the smog Sarah hear a faithful bark! "Poppy? What is it girl?" She crawled under the majority of the smoke towards Poppy. Poppy was barking in earnest now, and whining. Sarah looked around the spot but couldn't see anything unusual. But wait! There was the scent of fresh (well fresh-er) air. She gave a shove with all her might against the wall and... Presto! A secret tunnel! She only hoped that it lead outside, not farther in. But anything was better than a burning shack. She grabbed Betsy by the ankles, snatched up the candle (which she found a little holder for, how handy) scooted Poppy inside and shut the door.
B-Write write write write write write write! With a passion! A angry fiery passion! That consumes you, not unlike the fire you were writing about when you were channeling your inner English Major...
S- But I’m not and English Major...
B-But you seemed like one...
S-It was a tunnel made of more roughly cut stone except for this time the ceiling wasn't 6 feet tall--more like 4. This led to a few problems as Sarah was heaving Betsy across the rocks trying to balance the candle and keep an eye on Poppy. Luckily Betsy woke up. Unfortunately she was still hysterical. Her eyes were wild and she stood up in a panic gasping for air as if someone had been strangling her. "What happened?" she managed to gasp out. "Well, you see," responded Sarah, "Our faithful hound managed to get us out of that mess. There was a secret passageway and Poppy found it!" "How convenient," Betsy smirked, "I guess the murderer isn't very clever after all." The girls continued to stumble down the passage way until the came to a dead end. "Great," Sarah muttered. She shoved against it and it creaked open slowly. To the girls surprise, a blithe pastoral scene wasn't before them but rather an old dusty room. An old, ornately furnished, dusty room for that matter.




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Chapter 14

S-”Poppy!!" Betsy screamed, for after all Poppy is her best friend in the world. Excepting Sarah of course. They all ran off in the direction from whence the howl had come from. "No no no no!" cried Betsy. Tears were streaming down both hers and Sarah's cheeks as they imagined the worst. Half eaten by a pack of rabid wolves, stomped on by a moose, or even dog-napped! Everyone was yelling Poppy's name by then, but then it occurred to Sarah that how on earth would they hear her if she replied, or if her attacker snuck off! "Everybody stop yelling!" cried Sarah, "I have a plan. We yell Poppy's in unison and then listen very closely. If you hear anything at all, a whine, a twig breaking, anything alert the group! Ok, ready, set, 'POPPY!!'" They all listened their very hardest, and then out of the silence, the faintest little whimper was heard. The whimper of a poor, scared, hurt little bloodhound.
B-The girls ran through a clearing and into some underbrush. There, in a nest of thistles, was Poppy. She was tangled up and her little legs just weren't strong enough to pull free. The girls untangled her as carefully as they could. She was scratched up a little bit and very frightened. After the girls had comforted her for a bit though she was better and wanted to be put down. Once on the ground she got a very determined look on her little puppy face and set off into the woods. "Poppy! Come back. We've only just found you." Betsy said in exasperation The girls took off after her to be sure not to lose her again.
S-So they ran off into the woods. Euphemania was lagging behind a bit and mumbled something about going back and sitting in the rose garden. Little Poppy trotted on ahead sniffing all the while. "Do you think she found a clue?" Betsy whispered to Sarah. "I definitely think she's on to something." So they put their trust in a little bloodhound and go deeper and deeper into the woods. Suddenly Betsy looks around her and says "Either I'm having deja vous, or I've been here before." "Yes!" exclaimed Sarah, "Look! There's the hollow tree we jumped over on our walk with Poppy and right over there... Is the creepy abandoned house." And just as Sarah said this Poppy with her determined puppy face ran right inside. "Oh no, I don't like that house at all!" Betsy muttered, who is not afraid to admit that she can be a pansy at times. "It's so creepy and ominous." But putting her fears aside, she followed Sarah and Simon in to the dilapidated house, not knowing what awaited them.
S-The door creaked open--the hinges sticking a bit from disuse. Dust was already starting to cover up their foot prints from their visit. Poppy was running to a corner and scratching at the floor. "Thats our smart pup!" declared Sarah, "She really has found a clue." The girls walked over and saw a hole in the floorboard, a hole that was just the right size for a finger. Sarah reached down and stuck her finger in and pulled up. "A trapdoor!" exclaimed Betsy in surprise! "Oh Poppy, you are such a clever hound!" The girls made their way down the ladder carefully to investigate. Suddenly, it felt as if all the happiness had gone from the world. The room was suddenly dark, the girls breath became frosty. "DEMENTORS!" wept in a heart wrenching cry Betsy, "THEY'VE FOUND US AND NOW THEY ARE GOING TO SUCK OUT OUR SOULS!!!!!" "Don't be silly Betsy, they trapdoor must have just accidentally shut." said Sarah diplomatically, "Excuse me, Simon, would you mind opening the door?"



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